Best Food Trucks In San Francisco

The Bay Area has one of the hottest dining scenes in the country, from world-class, Michelin-starred restaurants to an incredibly diverse range of ethnic eateries. Contributing to the fabulous dining experience in San Francisco is the wealth of quality foods from more than 250 food trucks in the Bay Area. With business booming, owning a food truck in the city is highly competitive, giving consumers a large number of choices for tasty, yet inexpensive street food. Because there are so many excellent food trucks in the area, it’s difficult to include everyone’s favorite, but most will agree that the following are five of the best food trucks in San Francisco.

El Tonayense (Credit, Randy Yagi)

El TonayenseHarrison St. and 14th St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 282-1103www.tonayense.com

El Tonayense ranks as a consistent San Franciscan favorite for authentic Mexican food. Its humble beginnings began in the Mission District 15 years ago, when the Santana family opened El Tonayense Restaurant, a name originating from their hometown of Tonaya. Emphasizing street food commonly found at food stands in Mexico, the business thrived and now stations three food trucks along Harrison Street in the Mission District, between 14th and 19th Streets. Among the affordable food selections favored by loyal customers are the western burrito, tacos carne asada and tacos al pastor. The delicious burritos come with a meat of choice, rice and beans, onions, cilantro and the Santana family’s “secret salsa.”

JapaCurry is the first Japanese food truck to operate in the Bay Area and has been mentioned as one of the Best Food Trucks by local weekly publications. In business less than three years, owner Jay Hamada has done so well with his mobile business selling delicious curries and bento boxes, he recently opened up an Izakaya-style Japanese restaurant called Roku on busy Market Street. Opening up a menu from the popular food truck, visitors can choose from four types of flavorful curries like katsu chicken and five types of bento boxes with items like chicken teriyaki and BBQ beef. The food truck makes scheduled stops in downtown San Francisco five days a week, with locations posted online and via Twitter.

This mobile gourmet rotisserie describes itself as “America’s first and finest healthy, sustainable, slow cooked street food.” Owner Thomas Odermatt, who possesses a masters degree in organic farming, serves only the freshest organic produce and healthy meats from local farmers. The food truck has a lively business at farmers’ markets all over the Bay Area seven days a week, including stops in Oakland, San Rafael, Palo Alto and Santa Cruz. In San Francisco, Roli Roti serves farmers’ markets at the Marina, Stonestown Galleria, SoMa Food Park, Civic Center, Mission and Ferry Plaza. Among the most popular gourmet food items sold at the Roli Roti food truck are whole “Sonoma Select” range chickens, the Roli Roti combo and a gourmet porchetta sandwich. Like many of the top food trucks in San Francisco, Roli Roti promotes itself through a number of social media sites, such as Facebook, Flickr and Twitter.

Specializing in Filipino fusion food, Señor Sisig has been recognized by multiple local publications as the Best Food Truck and Best Fusion in San Francisco. The business is owned by two high school friends, Evan Kidera and Gil Payumo, who share a common appreciation for food, especially Filipino. The two hard-working friends fuse Filipino sauces with delicious Mexican dishes, such as the Sisig taco, Señor Sisig burrito and California Sisig burrito six days and week across the Bay Area. Señor Sisig uses the social media site Twitter to announce the upcoming food truck schedule at locations such as Fort Mason, Civic Center, SoMa and Oakland’s Lake Merritt.

There are only a handful of items on The Chairman’s menu, but any of those choices will likely bring back customers craving more. Another food truck selected as San Francisco’s Best Food Truck from readers of a local magazine, The Chairman serves delicious Taiwanese gua bao (bun sandwiches) filled with Asian fusion meats or vegetables. Among the most raved about food items are the tender pork belly with tumeric pickled daikon and green shiso and the Coca-Cola braised pork with savory cabbage and preserved yellow mustard seeds. The food truck serves many other Bay Area locations, including Larkspur, South San Francisco, Berkeley, Menlo Park and San Jose. Like many other local food trucks, The Chairman takes advantage of social media by posting weekly schedules on Facebook and advance notification of food truck locations on Twitter.